Hand tools are used by craftsman, electricians, homeowners, carpenters and a variety of others to construct buildings, repair household furniture and appliances and perform an endless variety of other tasks and functions. One of the most popular and useful hand tools is a handheld screwdriver or an electric or battery operated power drill adapted with a screwdriver bit. These tools are used to drive screws and other metallic attachment hardware devices in a quick, efficient manner.
To improve the efficiency and speed of a handheld screwdriver or power driven driving tool or bit, it is advantageous that the bit be magnetized to hold the metallic screw. This enables the screw to be temporarily attached to the driving bit and allows the user to have another hand free for holding the tip of the screw for proper alignment prior to turning the screw.
Previous attempts have been made to magnetize metallic driving bits such as screwdrivers, allen wrenches or other tools. These include small rings which are slid over the metallic driving bit to exert a magnetic gauss to the end of the driving bit, which in turn holds the screw on other attachment hardware. Unfortunately, these magnetic rings typically only provide a small contact surface with the metallic driving tool and thus do not provide a sufficient magnetic gauss to be overly effective. Additionally, their close tolerance to the exterior diameter of the metallic driving tool often make them difficult to attach. Finally, the orientation of the magnets are not optimally positioned to provide the most efficient magnetic gauss and hence magnetic force delivered at the driver bit where it is required.
An example of one type of magnetizing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,873. In this device, a ring magnet is used which is positioned close to the screw or other fastener. Due to the strength of the magnet, the fastener is attracted to the driver bit, although the driver bit is never sufficiently magnetized. This system is not overly effective since the orientation of the magnets do not provide an overly effective magnetic gauss at the driver bit. Additionally, very large and expensive magnets are often required. Due to their size and positioning near the driving bit, these larger magnets often obscure the user's view of the driving bit and/or screw.
Thus, there is a significant need for a small, inexpensive device which can be removably attached to a metallic driving bit to provide a sufficient magnetic gauss at the metallic driving bit to securely hold attachment hardware such as screws.